Missing You
by xpakux
Summary: After Sasuke leaves, Naruto and Sakura reminescent, dream, hope, and realize various aspects about their stoic comrade and Sai... xxxAFTER TIME SKIPxxx


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Disclaimer: OMG! I LOVE YOU NEJI-KUN! But Jason and Dong say you're gay... nah. They're just jealous of your good looks! Sasuke is the gay one, running off and screwing Orochimaru like that...

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Missing You

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The new and revised, but not improved, team 7 were walking to the normal training grounds. Birds chirped and fluttered happily about, squirrels chattered to one another, rabbits bounded silently throughout the low brush that littered the edge of the grounds. The 'normal' training ground was the one with the memorial stone sittingat the edgewith a white flag waving ominously over it, driven by the slightly cool breeze that swept through the area at the moment.

When they arrived, Naruto looked at the tablet and sighed. The stone reminded him of all the near death experiences he and his friends had encountered previously. One friend in particular stood out in Naruto's mind.

Sasuke

To him, Sasuke was already dead and gone to the world. He had always hoped that Sasuke would return, that Sasuke would see the wrong of his actions and his lust for power. Even now a tiny sliver of hope remained, shining in the pitch-black darkness of reality, but it was soon enough smothered with one glance at his new comrade, Sai.

Naruto wanted with all his heart to truly believe in Sasuke's return, that one day the scowling boy would show up for training and point at Kakashi, claming that their lazy sensei was a liar. But the funny thing is, Sasuke never did that in the first place. When Kakashi-sensei would show up, all he'd do was let out a small "Humph", and continue on doing whatever he was occupied with at the moment.

_'I'm beginning to forget what Sasuke was like… NO! I don't want him to become a memory! He should be here with me! With Sakura! With Kakashi! With all of us! Why's he not here?'_

Naruto looked to Sai. The boy… he was always smiling, his lips turned in an upward curl.

Naruto always knew that Sasuke would never be welcomed back to Konoha and be treated the same way ever again. It was pointless to look forward to seeing Sasuke on his team again.

But looking at Sai… It made his blood boil. Sai was the rock hard evidence that Sasuke was really gone, that Sasuke was no longer with him, Sakura, and Kakashi. That Naruto didn't just dream this entire messy situation. Sai reminded the blonde over and over that Sasuke was gone.

_'I will never wake up, and see Sasuke's hand held out towards me to help me up. Never will I see Sakura smile with wholesome happiness, the happiness that lit up her face when everything in her book was going as planned, and Sasuke noticed her.'_

Naruto sat down next to the stone tablet and bent his legs so that he could rest his elbows on them. He buried his face into his hands, and began a silent and dry sob with no tears, but his shoulders shook roughly, which gave away his emotions.

Sakura noticed at once. Her expressions displayed a sad smile that seemed to be filled with sadness, regret, and hesitation to comfort the blonde boy due to the fact that she had no idea what to say.

She could say, _"I'm sorry,"_ or, "_I know how you feel_," but she couldn't do it. She could never be able to force those words out of her mouth. She would never be able to feel what it's like to have the one of the only people that she considered family being ripped away from her. She'd never truly understand the emotions that Naruto was going through, so her words to the Kyuubi vessel always only scratched the surface of Naruto's sadness, and were often generic, as if they were read directly off a greeting card.

She wanted to help. _God, how she wanted to help_ and see Naruto smile the same carefree smile that he did two and a half years ago when he declared that he was to become Hokage, or when a stranger acknowledged him. The reason is because his smile seemed to melt icy walls that people have built around their souls and hearts. It was his unknown gift, something that Naruto would never realize he had.

His grin was like the beacon of light from a lighthouse that shone through the fog, no matter how dense, but now… the light had dimmed. And she was the little boat that was being thrown side to side with the waves' relentless force, Sasuke was the lighthouse keeper that decided he could do better things. Sai was the substitute.

The stoic artist was a different story altogether. He knew he was not welcome, he knew he was a reminder of horrible things that have already come true. He knows that he will make his comrades relive some of the same pain of betrayal that they had felt a couple of years earlier. Most 'villains' would take a look and laugh about how foolish the ones that opposed them were. But Sai… he just smiled. But it wasn't a true smile, it never was. His face of nothing was being covered by a mask of happiness that he never felt, and it was almost depressing knowing that.

You'd think that although it is fake, smiling so much would make you even a little happier, that you could convince yourself that you are happy and try to look at all the good aspects our lives. But no, a fake smile hurts thousands of times worse than a frown.

Sasuke was gone

Naruto had tried.

Naruto failed

Even Sakura… she had tried

But she failed also

Naruto ended up in a hospital

Sakura ended up on a park bench

So what is Team 7? With the copy ninja sensei gone, and the stoic teen heartthrobbeing replaced by an emotionless one, _what is left_?

A beautiful flower; grown from the rockiest of soils, cultivated to perfection, and then…

_Plucked._

One by one the petals fell at her feet.

A never-ending spiral; it spins and spins. Is itspiralingin or out?

Round and round and round it turns, where is it going?

Nobody knows.

But now the fan that kept it spinning, has left.

No more turning

No more whirling

No more whimsical spinning

All that the spiral has come to is…

All that the flower is left with is...

… A looming darkness called **despair**.


End file.
